1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to waste materials and, more particularly, to an improved method and apparatus for completely incinerating such materials.
2. Prior Art
Hazardous waste materials represent a serious challenge to human and animal health and to the environment in general. Recently, concerted efforts have been made to dispose of such waste materials in a safe manner, in many cases by dumping them in deep land fill zones. In other cases the hazardous materials are encased in protective containers and buried in land fills or at sea. Certain hazardous materials are also disposed of by burning them at trash dumps, in commercial furnaces and the like. Depending on the burning parameters, such destruction frequently is time-consuming, incomplete and produces noxious levels of nitrogen oxide and other undesired pollutants.
There remains a need for a simple, inexpensive, efficient method and apparatus for completely and rapidly incinerating hazardous and non-hazardous waste materials, particularly fluidizable materials, such as liquids, gases, entrained particles and slurries, without generating noxious by-products.